Beijing to Slash New Car Sales, Demand 40% of Cars be Hybrids

China’s rapid commercial growth has led to almost inconceivable air pollution in its major cities. In the last month alone, high levels of pollution have forced China to all but shut down the northeastern city of Harbin, a major city with a population of nearly 11 million people. In addition to threatening the country’s deadliest polluters with heavy fines and, hilariously, the death penalty, Beijing is taking another step to clean its air: by 2017, a full 40% of new vehicle number plates will be set aside for “new energy” vehicles, effectively acting as a 40% hybrid/electric mandate.

In addition to the “clean car mandate” that I just invented, Beijing will take the somewhat drastic step of cutting the number of new plates it will issue. Beijing will issue only 150,000 new license plates, down from 240,000 each year now. As in the US, all cars must carry plates before they can be driven on public roads.

According to Reuters, new number plate restrictions are already in place in four Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Guiyang – with plans to restrict number plate sales in eight more cities within the next year. The policy trend has already led carmakers like GM and VW to divert its marketing and sales resources to China’s smaller cities. As long as they can still see the sky, anyway.

EV sales are going up. Put a limit on new car sales and both new and used gasmobile prices will inflate. That will make EV prices more attractive.

Wonder if they’ll lift the limit on EVs if sales zoom? Could just add a couple thou premium and use the extra to add solar panels or wind turbines to the grid.

UncleB

Important to note: This is almost anti-barracuda Capitalist! Apparently the Lobbyists in China have no control? The politburo of 7 still run the country for the peons, not the corporations? Watch closely now as better burning systems for coal,appear, Better electric cars are developed, and greater reliance on electric powered public transportation increases.Watch for Thorium LFTR technologies to emerge, expect Pebble Bed Gas reactors to flourish? China to move away from Coal and oil , towards new nuclear, Solar, Wind, Wave, Hydro, Tidal, Geothermal, Biological systems? Electric bullet trains there already save huge amounts of fossil fuels? Use nuclear sourced electricity? Will Compressed Natural Gas from Canada help? Are there better ways to more completely combust coal? Catalytic converters on stoves?

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